"Going green" is as much about individuals becoming more conscientious about their carbon footprints as it is about cities' efforts to make their residents more eco-conscious.

That includes anything from making cities more bike-friendly, to installing green roofs on public buildings, to promoting the use of biodiesel in city-owned vehicles.

ForRent.com, a rental-listings company, has developed an info graphic showing a number of steps that three environmentally-conscious U.S. cities have taken to promote 'green' practices.

Chicago's bus fleet uses hybrids fueled by Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel, an attempt to reduce emissions as much as possible. Since 2007, Seattle has installed 129 miles of on-street bike facilities, as well as 2,230 bicycle parking spaces. The city's Bicycle Master Plan aims to triple the amount of biking in the city between 2007 and 2017. Portland has implemented community solar plans, through which buildings and even neighborhoods can share each others' solar power.

Many of these measures could easily be scaled in other cities. See the full info graphic below.

Contributing Editor
Channtal Fleischfresser has worked for The Economist, WNET/Channel 13, Al Jazeera English, Wall Street Journal and Associated Press. She holds degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She is based in New York.
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